Most of Michigan has been spared the COVID surge sweeping nation. The counties deemed to have high or significant rates also tend to lag in vaccinations.
The state has permission to kill up to 9,650 birds and destroy up to 1,400 nests, a move state wildlife managers hope will reduce pressure on fish populations valued by anglers. Opponents say the birds are scapegoated for a fish collapse they didn’t cause.
A death at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is the most recent incident in a summer of tragedy in Michigan’s remote wildernesses. That’s stretched resources and has lawmakers thinking of new funding sources.
With campsites at state and national parks hard to book in a pandemic, creative property owners with very particular passions are renting out space through sites like Hipcamp and Tentrr. One official called it the “wild, wild West.”
One of the state’s signature crops is facing its second year of decline. Growers weighed whether the work of the small harvest would be worth it and experts are wondering what it means for the industry.
Some officials in Kalkaska and Grand Traverse counties have denied funding for needle exchange programs, arguing they encourage drug use. Such fears have been refuted by decades of research showing exchanges reduce HIV and other health problems and encourage more people to seek treatment.
State game areas — hunting lands typically open to target shooting — have become increasingly popular with handgun and AR-15 enthusiasts. But the noise, trash and wayward bullets worry neighbors, hikers and others.
The Johnson and Johnson vaccine helped health workers reach rural and island residents, the homeless, agricultural workers and freighter crews — people more likely to need a single-dose vaccine. The vaccine’s halt Tuesday complicates the state’s path to herd immunity.
Rural Michigan is trying to balance the urgent need for updated sewer and water infrastructure with the financial constraints faced by towns with aging and shrinking populations.
State and federal parks and species managers said they don’t plan to act on a flurry of legislative resolutions calling for new hunting seasons targeting gray wolves, sandhill cranes and Isle Royale moose.
Town managers say the businesses are poised to boost strained budgets. And school and law enforcement officials contend there is little evidence to date the marijuana economy is bringing more crime or drug abuse to main street.
Senior care facilities across much of Michigan can now resume indoor visits, yet few appear to be doing so. We highlight places applying DIY creativity to bring lonely residents face to face with those they love.
Jobs are booming in tiny Newaygo in west Michigan, but housing hasn’t followed. So builders and city leaders got creative to put less expensive homes on the market — and other cities may follow.
Up to half of all Michigan K-12 students were taking all of their classes from home, with more added after the recent state coronavirus health order. Rural areas are particularly struggling.
After nine days in the hospital, Dwaine Taylor — COVID case #290 in Delta County — said he no longer believes the coronavirus is a hoax. But he remains skeptical of the cases elsewhere, underscoring an awkward truth: COVID is complex, and so are people and politics.
Amish opposition to government regulation and abortion aligns with the political positions and rhetoric of the current president. But this small but growing conservative population in Michigan will likely stay home on Election Day.
Like the rest of the nation, northern Michigan began a reckoning on race after George Floyd’s death in May. Then, a Leelanau County road commissioner’s racist outburst made it an undeniably local issue.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer requires the U.P. to adhere to the same guidelines as most of the Lower Peninsula. The move comes as cases have exploded in western counties near Wisconsin.
